Inside the Jury Room: AUNZ Jurors On 9 Finalists That Made Them “Jealous”
Work that “solves different problems in different ways”, whether through humour, a clever product demo, beautiful craft, or public policy change, was picked by the Immortal Awards 2025 Australia and New Zealand jury yesterday to progress to the global judging round.
Bear Meets Eagle On Fire CCO Micah Walker said the jury was pleased with the strength of brand work in the market this year, sending nine projects to New York: nearly twice as many campaigns to the final judging round as in 2024, when the region progressed five campaigns.
“There's quite a variety of work that solves different problems in different ways,” Micah said.
“Sometimes it's, ‘What does the industry think we're trying to make a statement about?’ We're going to pick the thing that we genuinely believe is the best representation of creativity, not just what we think the industry and the business of our industry wants us to celebrate.”
He added a strong barometer for the jurors is “jealousy” of great work. “Would I have wanted to make that? Do I deeply wish I had made that piece of work? And hopefully that's the one that wins.”
His agency, Bear Meets Eagle on Fire, made five of the nine finalists across Bankwest and Telstra. The telco itself had four of the nine finalists, including ‘Scamageddon’, ‘Together is for Christmas’, ‘Wherever We Go’, and ‘Into Art’.
Juror and DDB Group AUNZ CCO, Matty Burton, picked ‘Into Art’ as his favourite project. “I just love it,” he said. “It has taken what was essentially a sponsorship or a place that they invest in because they think the arts are important, and they have found a way to democratise that through being artistic. I just love every piece of it. It's got so much depth. I hope [the global jury] vote for that one.”
Kim Wildenburg, founder and executive producer at Sedona, loved Telstra’s ‘Wherever We Go’ platform launch, which included an animated short and papercrafted OOH executions.
“I love this -- all facets of that campaign. I have done a lot of character animation in my past. I love the craft and the character. I love how that also transitioned over to social, TikTok trends, people mirroring the movement of the animated guy. The out-of-home is some of the most beautiful work, and the most standout, unique work I've seen in a long time.”
‘Scamageddon’ starring Steve Buscemi was top of the pile for Tone Aston, creative director and partner at Rumble. “I just love that piece of film, that's really great fun. It's a great strong list with nine pieces of work, four of them Telstra. I think that says that we're making great work in this region and continuing to make great global work, and ‘Scamageddon’ was a standout.”
In previous years, AUNZ jury discussions have been varied, Micah explained. “Sometimes there's quite a lot of disagreement, other times not so much.
“This year was quite simple. I think there were a lot of people who just agreed. That might be the work, might be the jury. The best thing about judging is finding people whose work you admire, or you're aware of, or you respect, and understanding why they think something is great.
“The discussion is actually the best part of the experience.”
Social change movement 36 Months, which resulted in the Australian government legislating a minimum social media age, was one project which received “a lot of really healthy conversation,” said M+C Saatchi’s national CCO Emma Robbins.
“As a parent, I love the momentum that it got. It then went through to Parliament and changed legislation -- I mean, that's an incredible piece of work,” she said.
“The really healthy conversation was how do we judge it as an actual idea or piece of craft, but I think what we started to talk about was – this is an Immortal Award for something that changes everything or changes legislation or changes behaviour or changes culture and that for me is evidence of the power of an agency and a client or a production company coming together to change something so desperately needed.”
Brent Smart, CMO at Telstra, agreed, noting while it’s not a traditional creative campaign, it will represent the region well on the world stage.
“36 Months is very interesting. It's certainly one that I've had to get my head around because it's not a traditionally shaped creative idea, but its impact is huge. If you think about work that's immortal – that's going to leave a legacy – 36 Months is the very definition of that. I also think globally, it's something the rest of the world admires. I think it's got a really good chance to represent us globally.”
Entropico founder Erin Moy, judging the award show for the first time, said truly immortal work will be the campaigns that stand the test of time.
“In 10 years, will it still be like rolling around in your brain as an interesting way into a problem or a creative solution to a problem? Do you remember that craft? Are you referencing it for other work? Will it linger with you?”
She called out Motion Sickness’ ‘Best Place in the World to Have Herpes’, which won two Grands Prix at Cannes this year and has swept other award shows.
“The herpes work is incredible, I just love it. An amazing angle on de-stigmatising something, it's very beautifully crafted, and the film work is very funny – so memorable. It is an interesting angle to come out of a brief, really one of my favourites.”
DDB Group New Zealand scored the other two Kiwi finalists, for ‘Certified Toasters’ and ‘Worst Children’s Library’. Micah said the former for Vogel’s is “super smart.”
“The thing that's always great about Vogel's work is that it's very product-centric. It's always solving a real business issue. It's irreverent, and it's playful,” Bear Meets Eagle on Fire’s founder said.
“And to do that for a brand like that that makes bread is amazing. The idea to use toasters as the medium to communicate what's unique about it makes it super fun. And it's all done with tongue-in-cheek humour, which makes it great.”
Kim Wildenburg, founder and executive producer, Sedona, loved the emotional impact of ‘Worst Children’s Library’. “I think everyone in the room who is a parent resonated with it. They basically created thousands of unique, bespoke book covers designed in a practical installation. It was an interesting way to communicate this really relevant problem through a brand experience.”
The nine finalists are:
- Telstra – ‘Wherever We Go’
- New Zealand Herpes Foundation – ‘The Best Place in the World to Have Herpes’
- 36 Months – ‘36 Months’
- Telstra – ‘Into Art’
- Vogel’s – ‘Certified Toasters’
- Samsung – ‘Worst Children’s Library’
- Telstra – ‘Scammageddon’
- Bankwest – ‘Just Enough Bank’
- Telstra – ‘Together Is For Christmas’
Convening at ARC’s Sydney studio yesterday, the AUNZ jury featured leaders from agencies, prodcos, post and sound houses, and brands, including Tone Aston, creative director and partner, Rumble; Daniel Bradford-Fry, executive producer, ARC; Matty Burton, group chief creative officer, DDB AUNZ; Pia Chaudhuri, creative consultant (formerly global senior creative leader, LEGO); Erin Moy, founding partner, Entropico; Emma Robbins, national chief creative officer, M&C Saatchi; Brent Smart, chief marketing officer, Telstra; Pip Smart, executive producer and partner, Revolver; Micah Walker, founder and chief creative officer, Bear Meets Eagle on Fire; and Kim Wildenburg, founder and executive producer, Sedona.
